Russia unleashed waves of drones and missiles on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday, killing two and injuring at least 13, Ukrainian officials reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the assault as “one of the biggest” since the war began more than three years ago. He said Moscow’s forces launched more than 315 drones, mostly Shaheds, and seven missiles overnight.
“Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the U.S. and allies to push Russia toward peace,” Zelenskyy wrote, calling for “concrete action” from the U.S. and Europe in response.
In the southern port city of Odesa, a maternity hospital and residential buildings in the city center were hit, regional head Oleh Kiper said. The regional prosecutor’s office confirmed two deaths and nine injuries in the attack.
Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours.
The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched nearly 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine’s audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases.
Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hours-long attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son, Levko, were among them.
“I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, waiting until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because it’s probably the hardest thing for him to bear,” she said.
Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2 a.m. with her rug.
Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A cease-fire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive.
In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot-down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.
Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, damaged in the attack.
“I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds (drones) would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),” he said. “I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.”
The Russian attack sparked 19 fires across Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. “Russia must answer for every crime it commits. Until there is justice, there will be no security. For Ukraine. And for the world,” he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday morning reported downing 102 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The drones were downed both over regions on the border with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia, including central Moscow and Leningrad regions, according to the Defense Ministry’s statement.
Because of the drone attack, flights were temporarily restricted in and out of multiple airports across Russia, including all four airports in Moscow and Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, the country’s second-largest city.
